The Norman Manley Law School is a

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Building and location

The Norman Manley Law School is located on the Mona campus of the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

, yet it is a distinct and separate institution. Its building, designed by architect firm Rutkowski, Bradford & Partners, is noted as an example of Caribbean

modernist architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

. It is a , two-storey

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

block

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

building; construction was finished in 1975. It was badly damaged by

Hurricane Gilbert Hurricane Gilbert was the second most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Atlantic basin in terms of barometric pressure, only behind Hurricane Wilma in 2005. An extremely powerful tropical cyclone that formed during the 1988 Atlantic hurr ...

in September 1988; a

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

window broke and let the wind into the building, placing significant uplift pressure on the

roof deck In architecture, a deck is a flat surface capable of supporting weight, similar to a floor, but typically constructed outdoors, often elevated from the ground, and usually connected to a building. The term is a generalization from the deck ...

History

Named for Jamaican statesman

Norman Manley Norman Washington Manley (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) was a Jamaican statesman who served as the first and only Premier of Jamaica. A Rhodes Scholar, Manley became one of Jamaica's leading lawyers in the 1920s. Manley was an advocate ...

, NMLS is one of three

s empowered by the (Caribbean) Council of Legal Education to award

Legal Education Certificate In the Commonwealth Caribbean, a Legal Education Certificate is a professional certification awarded to a person who has completed a course of study and training at a law school established by the Council of Legal Education. It was created by Articl ...

s, along with the Eugene Dupuch Law School in

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

and the

Hugh Wooding Law School The Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) is a law school in Trinidad and Tobago. History Named for Trinidad and Tobago jurist and politician Hugh Wooding, HWLS is one of three law schools empowered by the (Caribbean) Council of Legal Education to award ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. It opened its doors to students in September 1973. In July 2008, former Deputy Solicitor General Stephen Vasciannie was appointed principal of NMLS, succeeding

Keith Sobion Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

who had died some months before. In November 2012, Carol Aina was appointed principal following Vasciannie's departure to take up the post of Jamaica's ambassador to the United States.

Partnerships and outreach work

NMLS students are required to perform several hours of field work to graduate. One way they obtain these hours is by participating in

legal clinic A legal clinic (also law clinic or law school clinic) is a legal aid or law school program providing services to various clients and often hands-on-legal experience to law school students. Clinics are usually directed by clinical professors. L ...

s, through which the needy can obtain legal consultations at a price of J$1,000, far less than the usual tens of thousands of dollars required to meet with a private lawyer. In November 2008, NMLS signed a memorandum of understanding with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to form a partnership and hold seminars on

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

issues, including

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

Notable students and faculty

* Kirk Anderson, Justice of the Supreme Court of Jamaica *

Dean Barrow Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from Belize who served as prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party. An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize's ...

, fourth

Prime Minister of Belize The following article contains a list of Prime Ministers of Belize and Deputy Prime Ministers, from the establishment of the position of First Minister of British Honduras in 1961 to the present day. Office of the Prime Minister of Belize The ...

George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...

Chief Justice of Belize The Chief Justice of Belize is the head of the Supreme Court of Belize. Under Chapter 7 of the Constitution of Belize, the Chief Justice is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister. Since the retirement of Kenneth ...

from 1990 to 1998 * Zaila McCalla, Chief Justice of Jamaica *

Michel Chebat Michel Hannah Chebat, Jr. (born 23 May 1969) is a Belizean lawyer. He has previously served as Chairman of Social Security Board (Belize), Belize's Social Security Board as well as President of the Bar Association of Belize. He is a partner in the ...

, former chairman of the Social Security Board of Belize and president of the Bar Association of Belize *

Troadio Gonzalez Troadio John Gonzalez (born 28 December 1941) is a justice of the Supreme Court of Belize. Career Born in Belize, Gonzalez received his Bachelor of Law from the University of the West Indies Law Faculty in Barbados and Jamaica, and went on to the N ...

, justice of the

Supreme Court of Belize Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motown-e ...

* Lindsay Grant, former Leader of the

People's Action Movement The People's Action Movement (PAM) is a political party in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The party currently holds four (largest share) of the 11 seats in the National Assembly. PAM operates only in Saint Kitts and for the 2022 general election is in a ...

of Saint Kitts and Nevis *

Burton P. C. Hall Sir Burton P. C. Hall, (born December 10, 1947 in Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau, The Bahamas) is a Judge of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. He is the presiding judge in the ...

, Bahamian judge who sits on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia *

Cheryl Krusen Cheryl Krusen (''née'' Cheryl Thompson) is a Caribbean lawyer. A dual national of Jamaica and Belize, she has served in legal positions in various countries for three decades. Career Krusen's earlier career took her through various positions bot ...

, Solicitor-General of Belize *

Jody-Anne Maxwell Jody-Anne Maxwell (born 1986) is from Kingston, Jamaica and was the winner of the 1998 Scripps National Spelling Bee at the age of 12. She made history as the first non-American to win the competition. According to ''Ebony'' magazine, Maxwell, w ...

, first non-U.S. winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee * Ann-Marie Smith, Chief Magistrate of Belize *

Lisa Shoman Lisa Shoman, SC (born 1964) is a Belizean lawyer and politician and the Foreign Minister of Belize from 2007 to 2008. She was previously the Permanent Representative of Belize to the Organisation of American States and served concurrently as A ...

, Belizean lawyer and politician * George Singh, Chief Justice of Belize in 1998 * Manuel Sosa, President of the Belize Court of Appeal, former Chief Justice *

Rodwell Williams Rodwell Roosevelt Adlai Williams (born 29 September 1956) is a Belizean lawyer. He is a name partner, along with Prime Minister of Belize and United Democratic Party leader Dean Barrow, in the Belize City law firm Barrow & Williams. Major cas ...

(1984), Dean Barrow's partner at Barrow and Williams in Belize *Dame

Janice Pereira Dame Janice Mesadis Pereira ( George; formerly: George-Creque, Creque) , is the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. She became the first female Chief Justice and the first person from the British Virgin Islands to become Chief ...

, Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

References

{{authority control Law in the Caribbean Educational institutions established in 1973 Buildings and structures in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica Universities in Jamaica 1973 establishments in Jamaica

Building and location

History

Partnerships and outreach work

Notable students and faculty

See also

References